Mitchell took in a deep breath of the cool morning air, quickly stuffing his feet in his leather boots. He knew if he was too slow, Tulu would be ready and wanting to leave before he’d have a chance to eat. After having traveled by horseback for two days, eating only dried meats and breads during that time, his appetite was beginning to get the better of him.

They hadn't spoken much since they had departed the Keep. Tulu had barely spoken, though there had only been a few instances where it would have been possible to do so. They'd been riding hard, dawn to dusk, stopping only long enough for their horses to catch their breath, or to let them drink of the seemingly rare mountain streams.

“Remind me,” he said to Tulu as he stood up from his bed roll and dug through his bag for the dwindling persus meat, “why can’t we make a fire?”

Mitchell had asked this a couple times now, but hoped to get a bit more information out of her. She had been vague about what they were doing, saying "the Council had an assignment for us," and leaving it at that.

“Do I really need to go over this again?” Tulu asked as she packed her horses saddle bags on the other side of the small clearing where she had chosen to camp the night before, her tone laced with annoyance.

“Well, you’ve only said that we’re on an assignment given to us by the Council of Elders.” Mitchell looked out across the stone strewn valley where they were camped, ripping off a big piece of the dried meat and stuffing it into his mouth. The peppered salt made his mouth water.

He took a moment to admire the rolling mountains, their outline glowing pink and purple, reflecting the morning light from the rising sun that currently hid behind them. He wondered how something could be such a deep, impenetrable black, but still emit the incredibly bright colors displayed before them.

Leaning back against the grey, stone boulder that bordered part of their camp, he continued. “Look. I’m not sure how you did it, but I’m grateful to you for getting me across that bridge. I’m sure you risked a lot to do so.”

Tulu’s rustling slowed, and then stopped as he spoke. She stood there, motionless, staring at the ground.

Mitchell let out a sigh. “I guess that’s the problem though. I don’t know how you blocked the pain that day, or since. I don’t know what is expected of me… how to feel this warmth, as the masters have explained it to me, without feeling the burn. And,” he said with an air of finality, slumping down next to his saddle and saddle bags on the ground, eyes locking on his ragged boots, “I don’t know what we’re doing out here… what we’re doing right now.”

They remained where they were, unmoving, for a stretch of breaths, their silence giving life to the subtle whisper of the cool breeze which floated down from the distant mountains.

“I just want to know, will my life amount to anything, or have I been spirited away from one master, only to be enslaved by another…” Mitchell trailed off, renewing the silence.

The light from the sun began peeking over the mountain tops in full force, changing the pinks and purples to brighter yellows and oranges, inviting the first touch of warmth into the valley and breathing life into the rocky wasteland around them.

Mitchell was stunned that Tulu had allowed him to sit so long. This was the first time since leaving the Keep that she hadn’t been rushing them toward their undisclosed destination.

Mitchell stood up, grabbing his gear as he did so, and made his way across the clearing, over to where Tulu stood next to their horses, head still bowed. “We should go,” he stated quietly, placing his saddle on his horse’s back and latching the straps tight. He was securing his bags to the saddle when Tulu reached over, placing her hand on his, stopping him.

“We can’t make a fire,” she said softly, not meeting his eyes.

“So you’ve said”.

“No—“ she started, then paused, finally looking up. “I mean, if we make a fire, they could find us.”

“They…?”

“The Elders. Or, at least, the soldiers they’ll send to bring us back to the Keep.”

“Why would they need to find us? I thought—“

“There is no assignment!” she blurted out, hands shooting to her mouth, a burst of wind bustling past them through their camp.

Mitchell stood there, bracing himself against the unforeseen gust, confused. Tulu seemed unaffected. No assignment? “What are you talking about?” he asked.

Tulu breathed in deeply, regaining her composure before responding.

“I lied,” she stated flatly.

Mitchell waited, quietly, his patience silently urging her to continue. The horses were shuffling their hooves, eager to feel the ground wash away below them. Small black stones cracked like glass beneath their weight. He imagined their confusion, and irritation, at the delayed departure from camp.

Tulu let out a long breath. "I'm sorry," she whispered. If Mitchell hadn't been standing so close, he likely wouldn't have heard the words leave her mouth. She looked up, meeting his eyes. "I will explain…everything. However, there are things you just aren't ready to know yet, but you will be, I promise."

She turned to finish securing her belongings in her bag. She continued, an air of resilience filling her voice, "For now, though, we have to keep moving. We need to get—" she cut off, "No. You need to get as far away from the Keep as possible. The Trials the Elders intended to put you through are dangerous, perhaps fatal, without proper time and preparation."

She looked back at him. Sometimes, when Tulu looked at Mitchell, he felt like she could see right through him, directly into the core of his soul.

Her fierce eyes fixed on his, she said, "I honestly intend to help you with that, but to do so, I had to get you away from them. Saving you from your master, gave me the courage to save me...save us...from mine." And he believed her.

She looked away, then, back in the direction where they had been traveling, or rather fleeing from, as Mitchell had just learned. "A fire would give us away. There aren't many who travel through Gor's Gluch, and without any older trees to disperse the reflecting light, the flickering flames bouncing off the mirror faces of the surrounding stone could be seen for many leagues, depending on their vantage."

Tulu felt guilt as she jumped up, causing an undercurrent of air to lift her just high enough in order to swing her leg over, and land softly in her saddle. She didn't enjoy keeping secrets. She didn't enjoy lying, especially to Mitch. He was like her, after all. But that's what she knew. It's how she had been able to survive this long in a world that seemed to want to swallow her whole.

"It feels like you're still pulling me across that bridge," Mitchell said, checking the straps on his bags and saddle one last time.

"In a way, I am," she responded.

Mitchell thought about that for a moment, using his foot to dislodge a chunk of the black, glassy stone from the dirt that encased it. He bent down and picked it brushing the remaining dirt off, careful to not cut himself on its sharp edges.

"So?" he asked, "What's the plan?"

He wasn't sure why he trusted her so much. She had saved his life. Potentially twice now. Should that mean that her judgement was flawless? That he shouldn't question her motives?

Tulu watched as Mitchell stuffed the large stone toward the bottom of his bag, dusting his hands off on his pants. What a curious guy, she thought.

"We need to get to Mull," she said. "Its a large, coastal city along a major trade route. We can buy more provisions there and trade for new clothes. Maybe enjoy a hot meal before heading farther north."

Mitchell looked up at Tulu, his jaw set, eyes narrowed, at hearing the mention of a hot meal.

"Fish."

"...Fish?" Tulu asked, confused at the intensity of his gaze.

"Yes. Fish. I've never had it before, and have always wondered what it was like. Should we have time for a hot meal, I want fish," Mitchell said, resolute.

With that, he fit his left boot into the stirrup of his saddle, swinging his right leg over and settling in for what was sure to be another hard day of riding.

"Well? What are we waiting for?" he asked, tugging on the reins, angling his horse northward.

Tulu smiled. She thought she saw Mitch's face flush a little as she reared her horse next to his. "I will answer your questions, Mitch. And I am going to help you. Help you understand who...what, you are. I promise."

Without warning, Tulu spurred her horse forward, setting a pace that she hoped would make up time they didn't have.

Mitchell's horse began snorting and pawing at the ground, clearly agitated at having been left behind. He waited a moment, watching as Tulu sped off, before releasing the hot blooded beast below him to catch up with their companions.